[tashkent]

Hello everyone!

I just have one quick question about the polarity of the P-O bond.  I would like to ask which bond is more polar: the P=O bond or the P-O bond?  I'm thinking that the P-O bond is more polar, since it has more electrons placed on the more electronegative oxygen that makes it available for bonding.  Is my conclusion correct?

I would appreciate comments from you guys.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Tashkent

[Mitch]

I think your approaching the question wrong. The sigma bond will be more localized on the oxygen. The pi-bond will also have a larger coefficient around the Oxygen. Since a double bond contains both a sigma bond and a pi bond, it would be difficult to make a definitive statement like that. What you can say is that a certain tybe of bond will have a larger electron density coefficients around a certain atom.